Discoveries
by katreena
Summary: Now fifteen, Mikan starts to develop feelings for Natsume but is it reciprocated? And who is the woman claiming to be her mother? MxN
1. What's Happening?

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own any of the Gakuen Alice character...sigh

Tai - wow! A new story

Maia - don't you still have another one to finish?

katreena - don't remind me...

**Chapter One**

Mikan awoke to the warm rays of the sun hitting her face. She turned away from her window only to be greeted by her friend, Hotaru standing at her door waiting for her. It had been five years since they had arrived at Alice Academy and things were finally going Mikan's way. She was now a 'triple star' and the teachers had held more respect for her, even though Jin-Jin would occasionally look at her like she didn't deserve to be there. He never used to pick on her as much and chose to focus most of his sneering comments to the younger students. Which was a good thing for Mikan.

Over the years, she had grown out of her child like habits. She wouldn't burst into the room and run up to Hotaru, attempting and failing on many occasions to hug her. Her hair had grown longer and instead of tying it up, she chose to let it hang loose down her back. Mikan sat up in her bed, stretching her sore muscles.

"Hurry up Mikan. You're going to be late," Hotaru said in her monotone voice. Mikan grumbled. She didn't want to get up, not yet at least. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Hotaru had all ready left to go and eat breakfast with the other Alice students. She had changed as well.

She still spent most of her time in her lab, inventing new things to torture other students with and she always managed to get pictures of Ruka in compromising positions and using those to blackmail him. How could she not? It was just way too tempting and besides, she had her reasons. Only Mikan knew them though. Like Mikan, her hair had also grown but only up to shoulder length. Her beautiful purple eyes held a bit more emotion in them and she wouldn't hit Mikan as much. Again, another good thing for Mikan.

Speaking of which, she was still in her room getting ready for school. After brushing her hair and making sure there was nothing on her teeth, she packed her bag for her first lesson with Narumi-sensei. She had learnt to control her Alice a while back but didn't like to use it unless it was necessary. Looking over her shoulder, she heard the alarm go off on her clock. Sighing, she packed her bag quickly and ran out of the building. She didn't want to be late, not for the first lesson of the new term. Running up the stairs of the school was no big thing for her. She does it on pretty much on a daily basis.

Swiping her hair away from her eyes and opening the door, she walked into a loud classroom. Students all around her were using their Alices. Looking around, Mikan spotted Hotaru sitting at her desk with a screw driver in her hand and fixing up one of her smaller inventions.

"Hi Hotaru," she voiced happily to her friend. Hotaru simply nodded her head in acknowledgment. Mikan leant against the desk after placing her beg beside her chair.

"Hey Hotaru," she started. Hotaru gave a quiet nod to show she was listening, "wouldn't it be great to go back to the country? I would love to see Grandpa again." Hotaru nodded.

"Yeah, it would."

The opening of the door signaled the arrival of another student. Mikan looked up in time to see a very annoyed looking Natsume enter the room. She didn't even bother to greet him. He never answers back anyway. She gave up trying to talk to him a while ago and since then, they hadn't even looked at each other, let alone hold a decent conversation. She let him pass without letting out a peep. Over the years, they had formed a sort of agreement; to stay out of each others' way. They were fine with this but it was sort of disturbing to see from other people. It wasn't right to see Mikan not talking to someone.

Natsume sat down beside Ruka and rested his feet on the table. Closing his eyes, he let his head lean back against the back of the seat. He was tired. He had been up all night thinking. Everytime he closed his eyes, he would see images. Pictures of when he was younger and in the Elementary Branch of the Academy. Instead of all the bad memories, he would see the good times. All the people who cared about him and helped him had embedded themselves in his mind but none no more so than a certain brown haired girl. He opened his amber eyes to stare at her. She was talking to Imai and Iinchou. Smiling and laughing with them. He never really understood why no matter what came her way, Mikan always managed to smile.

He tried to understand but he came up with more questions than anything else so he decided that the subject of Sakura Mikan was way too complicated to understand. Though no matter how many times he told himself he would stop thinking about her, the one thing he would have on his mind for the rest of the day was her. He remembered all those times he was able to see her underwear and he smiled. Those were really funny times. Ruka saw the small smile on his face but decided to confront him about it later. If he guessed right, it had something to do with Mikan. He looked down at the rabbit in his arms and pet his small head.

Narumi-sensei finally entered as the students went to sit at their seats. Mikan sat down, feeling a slight shiver run up her spine. If she had bothered to look around, she would have noticed a set of fiery amber eyes staring at her.

The lesson went by with nothing much happening. Most of the students were bored and some even fell asleep. Narumi noticed but didn't feel it were necessary to speak up just yet. Mikan had her head resting against her hand with the elbow on the table. She had stopped listening to Narumi-sensei a while ago and was now just drawing random pictures in her book. She had a free period next (not sure for real so I'm just guessing they get free periods) and intended to spend it catching up on much needed sleep. She loved to sleep outside and let the warm sun rays hit her face, relaxing her tense muscles. She sighed happily just thinking about it. Mikan looked up and took a quick glance at the clock.

Ten more minutes and she would be dreaming about going back home and introducing all her friends to her Grandpa. Hotaru, Iinchou, Tsubasa, Misaki, Ruka, Natsume...She snapped out of her thoughts right there. What the heck was she doing thinking about Natsume? She shook her head and mentally slapped herself. She was loosing it and it was still the first day of the term. No. It was the first period of the first day of the term. Mikan knew she was going to have a hard time concentrating. Natsume hadn't been concentrating since Narumi-sensei walked into the room.

He looked up again and stared at the back of Mikan's head. He hair had grown and he liked how she let it down like that. She looked so much older and prettier. She had changed since the first time he saw her. She was so whiny then. A real cry baby but now, she had matured. She still says some things that just aren't meant to be said but she wouldn't cry over the smallest of things like she used to do. She would work hard and that was the main thing that Natsume noticed. She had moved up from a no star to a triple star in a matter of a few short years and earned the respect of many of the staff. Narumi-sensei looked up at the clock and decided now was a better time than any to end the lesson.

He might as well spare his students the bore of listening to him talk about who know what. He closed the book he had been reading from and dismissed his students. Everyone was happy to get out of that classroom. No more so than the sleeping students. Hotaru waited for Mikan at the door as they had a free period together. Throughout the years, Hotaru had let Mikan help her around her lab. She wasn't as clumsy as she had been and she really knew how to clean. Mikan walked up to her and smiled. She stared out the window and looked at the Sakura Trees. They were in full bloom now and the petals were gently falling towards the ground.

"I think I'm just gonna go and sit under the Sakura Tree. I'll talk to you later Hotaru." Mikan waved to her friend and ran out of the building. She sat under the tree after laying her bag on the ground. Closing her eyes, she remembered her childhood days in the country. When she and her Grandpa would sit outside under the shade of the tree and enjoy the Spring sun. She lay on the ground on her side with her bag acting as a pillow. She closed her eyes slowly and fell asleep. Natsume was sitting in the tree above Mikan. He watched as she slept and smiled softly to himself. He wouldn't bother her yet.

**AN-** Well, that's it for the first chapter. If you like it so far and are somewhat intrigued please leave a comment. Any criticism of my work is greatly appreciated too but nothing too hurtful please :(

Maia - well, it is sort of short for a chapter.

Tai - that's true.

katreena - sigh i know but we should let the readers decide...so press the little purple/blue button (pretty please)...


	2. Mommy?

**katreena:** oh wow! so many reviews for one chapter and thanks to all who reviewed: _**xiannu007, KristiexxNguyen, Mikan-chan, danavalkyre, kionkichi, Chin-92, Yuuki Ishikawa, akuma, alf05, Sharmaine, dbzgtfan2004, SasuNaru-Love, blue3-mage**_, _Kawaiimichiyo, amylovestakuya..._you guys rock!

**Tai:** hm, I guess people do like this story.

**Kaia:** yeah. but I wonder how many will review for this chapter...(cough, cough)

**katreena:** you guys are cruel (sniff)...anyway, i do not own Gakuen Alice and never will.

**Chapter Two**

Once again, Mikan was late but unlike her usual lessons, she wasn't running. The 'short' nap she took during her free period went a bit into the next. So now she was walking quickly to her next class, the Special Class. Over the years, she hadn't felt bad about being in this class. She learnt that the students were all fun to be with and became friends with them. She hadn't seen Misaki or Tsubasa in a while and she missed them. Whenever she had something on her mind or a problem and needed advice, she would turn to them and ask their opinions on things.

Mikan sighed. She lifted her head and stared at the clear blue sky. No clouds were seen and the sun felt warm against her skin. Spring was a good time to be outside. Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to the path ahead of her and tripped over a fallen branch. She began to loose her balance, holding her arms out trying to stay on her feet. She failed miserably and fell on her rear end.

"OW! That hurt," she mumbled, rubbing her lower back. She sighed. I guess some things don't change, she thought after standing up and dusting herself off. She looked at her watch and her face paled.

Running all the way to the building was no easy thing. There were an unusual number of twigs and sticks on the ground and she had to be careful to dodge them. She was late. Later than she usually was for class. Mikan began walking down the endless corridor to get to the Special Group's room but stopped when she heard someone call out something. Thinking she was hearing things, she continued to walk.

"Oi, polka-dots!" Recognising the nick name, she turned around slowly. Natsume was walking towards her with someone following closely behind.

"My name isn't polka-dots you know. It's - never mind," she sighed, realising that talking to him was useless. She tried for the past couple of years and failed. She still had the painful memories to prove it, "what are you doing here anyway?" she asked bitterly. If Natsume was hurt to hear that tone of voice used on him, he didn't show it. He stayed silent for a moment before he answered.

"Class. The Special and Dangerous Groups have combined remember? Or does nothing penetrate that thick skull of yours?"

Mikan was fuming by now. How dare he insult her. Her hand was balled into a fist, as if ready to punch him. Taking a deep breath, she looked away and her eyes landed on Natsume's companion. His greyish hair and green eyes familiar to her but she couldn't quite figure out where she had seen them before. She must've been staring for far too long because she was surrounded be spirits. Frightened slightly, she used her Alice to get rid of them. Taking a deepbreath, she finally recognised who he was.

"Yoichi," she whispered. The boy had grown a lot. He was now an eight year old but looked much older. His green eyes had a tint of blue in them and his hair was much like Natsume's. Figures, she thought, he was pretty much his mentor.

"You should know I can cancel your Alice," she mumbled as she turned around to continue walking. She didn't get very far though, as she felt someone holding her hand. She stopped in her tracks and looked down. Yoichi had attached himself to her hand. He didn't look like he was going to let go any time soon.

"Mommy," he said. Mikan gasped. He didn't just call me Mommy? Did he? This was getting too weird for her. She bent down slightly so that she was at eye level with him.

"I'm not your Mommy Yoichi." He continued to stare at her. Mikan sighed. The kid was cute but there were times when he was unbearable.

Natsume's eyes were wide. He had never heard Yoichi call someone that. He had allowed the kid to call him Daddy a few times, away from other people ofcourse, but this was something else all together. It wasn't odd for young children like Yoichi to create substitute parents but why would he choose Mikan as his mother? It didn't make sense to him. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Mikan's voice.

"We should get going then. We're late." She walked away with Yoichi still holding her hand. Natsume began to follow quietly, all the while staring at Mikan.

His hands were in his pockets as he followed. Thoughts of Mikan kept plaguing his mind and they were happening more frequently. The fact that she was in all his classes now wasn't helping things much either. Life hated him. He decided that a while ago and kept repeating it to himself as they reached the door of the classroom. Loud noises reached their ears and upon opening the door, the were bombarded with laughter and talking. The class was quite big now as there were two groups in the one room. Natsume stopped abruptly at the door when he saw the sight.

"What the?-" he mumbled.

Mikan smiled at him.

"We always have a party to celebrate the start of a new term," she explained, taking a step into the noisy and extremely crowded room. After she placed her bag down on a spare chair, she motioned for Natsume and Yoichi to follow her. Placing her hands on her hips, she surveyed the room, looking for Noda-snesei.

"Hm, not here. He must be time traveling again," she said quietly to herself. When she turned around to face Natsume and Yoichi, she came face to chest with her teacher. She lifted her head slightly to see his face. A surprised expression was plastered on his face.

"Sakura -" he mumbled. Mikan's eyes brows furrowed.

"Sensei?" He seemed to snap out of his trance when he smiled and placed his hand on the back of his head.

"Ah, sorry Mikan. I thought you were someone else," he apologised, "I must be back at the Academy," he mumbled, saying the last part more to himself than anybody else. He began to walk to the front of the class when Mikan stopped him.

"Who did you think I was Sensei?" He paused before answering her though.

"Your mother. You look so much like her."

A brown haired girl could be seen aimlessly walking through the school. It was lunch now but she didn't feel like sitting in a noisy room filled with the delicious aromas of food. Her stomach grumbled and she sighed. She decided not to eat anything just yet, wanting to up to her room and have a bit of a rest before class started. As she turned the corner, she bumped into something solid. Taking a step back to stable herself, she opened her eyes to see amber eyes and dark hair. Great, could this day get any worse, she thought.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," she said quietly. Natsume simply nodded his head, accepting her apology. An uncomfortable silence filled the air between them and Ruka looked from one to another, holding his pet rabbit in his arms. So he decided to do the only thing he could think of. Try to lighten the air.

"I wonder if Imai has some new photos to blackmail me with," he mumbled. Mikan stared at him and smiled. She laughed quietly before talking.

"She only does that because -" Realising what she was about to say, she clapped her hands over her mouth.

Ruka and Natsume stared at her strangely.

"Why does she do it?" Ruka asked. Mikan shook her head and placed her hands in front of her face.

"Oh nothing. Forget I ever said anything," she said nervously. Just when the boy was about to question her further, a girl with dark hair and purple eyes stood beside Mikan. She held up another photo of Ruka in a compromising position. He turned red with embarrassment and tried to snatch the picture from her hands. She saw it coming however, and backed away, just out of his reach.

"I've got something I need you to do Ruka," she said emotionless. After placing the photo in her breast pocket, she looked up at Ruka to gage his reaction. What else could he do but sigh and nod his head. He was totally at her mercy and he knew it. Hotaru gave a small smile that looked positively evil. She turned around to walk away with Ruka following, leaving Mikan alone with Natsume. Not a good thing.

Silence filled the air once again as Mikan shifted nervously from one foot to another. She suddenly found the ground beneath her feet to be quite interesting and chose to stare at that instead of his ruby red eyes. However, just as she were about to walk away, Natsume began to talk quietly.

"What do you think Imai is planning for Ruka?" Mikan looked up suddenly, eyes wide.

"She probably needs him to get more money. She's always been so greedy," she mumbled, remembering all the times she had to bribe her so called 'best friend' with nightmarish amounts of Rabbits.

"What were you about to say, before Imai showed up?" he asked, staring at her intently. Mikan blushed under his scrutiny. She clasped her hands behind her back before looking down at the ground.

"Well, I'm not aloud to tell anyone because it's a secret." Natsume nodded.

"She likes him then," he said, confirming his suspicion. Mikan nodded slowly before walking past him to get to her room.

"Don't tell Hotaru I said anything," she asked quietly before quickly running away from his rigid form.

"You're worried about what Noda-sensei said, right?" Natsume called to her. Mikan paused before answering.

"Yeah, it's something I would easily forget."

"Just don't worry too much about it polka-dots." And with that said, he walked away from her.

Mikan watched him leave, wondering what had gotten into Natsume. He was talking to her and willingly at that.

**katreena: **well, there's another chapter for all of you. I hope you all like it and please review! I love getting them and reading how wonderfull you think my story is...(begins to cry)...

**Kaia:** (laugh's nervously) don't mind her. She's just happy is all...

**Tai: **hm, well I think this was a pretty pointless chapter.

katreena: (stops crying) but isnt Yoichi cute?


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